Anwar Ibrahim

A former Malaysian deputy prime minister was convicted of sodomy Tuesday and sentenced to nine years in prison, a widely expected verdict that ended Anwar Ibrahim's two-year battle against what he has called a political conspiracy. Anwar, who said he would appeal, had predicted a guilty verdict as he was led into the court, but veered between calm acceptance and outrage as the verdict was read. Tuesday's judgment ends a yearlong trial, the second for Anwar since he was fired by Prime...

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - A Malaysian court convicted opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy and sentenced him to five years in prison on Friday, shattering his plan to take control of the country's richest state and stoking political tension in the Southeast Asian nation following a divisive national election last year. Three judges at the Court of Appeal unanimously voted to overturn Anwar's acquittal two years ago in a rapid ruling that his supporters...

Malaysia's newly freed former deputy leader Anwar Ibrahim left for Germany on Saturday to undergo back surgery for an injury suffered partly during a police beating six years ago. He was cheered by thousands of supporters who brought Kuala Lumpur International Airport to a standstill. It was the biggest demonstration of support for the charismatic politician since he was freed from prison Thursday after Malaysia's highest court overturned a sodomy conviction that he long...

By Stuart Grudgings KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian prosecutors began their appeal on Thursday against the acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on a charge of sodomy, a case that international human rights groups have condemned as politically motivated. A verdict by the Court of Appeal could come in days or weeks, legal experts say, just as Anwar bids to win a local election this month that many expect to pave the way...

Malaysia's highest court began an appeals hearing Tuesday that could erase newly freed former deputy leader Anwar Ibrahim's criminal record and allow him back into politics. Meanwhile, Anwar, 57, was walking in his hospital room three hours after successful back surgery Monday in Munich, Germany, to repair damage that he says was caused by a police beating in custody in 1998, aides said in a statement. The three-judge panel of the Federal Court unanimously dismissed prosecution...

By Siva Sithraputhran KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian police arrested several opposition politicians and activists on Thursday, launching a crackdown on dissent three weeks after an election exposed deep divisions in the country and sparked a series of opposition protest rallies. Police also raided the offices of opposition newspapers and seized thousands of copies of their publications, according to online media reports. The arrests of at...

A lawyer for Malaysia's jailed former finance minister charged Friday that a dangerously high level of arsenic has been found in his client's urine. High Court Judge Arifin Jaka adjourned Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial after a defense lawyer said a pathologist in Australia had certified an excessive level of the poison had been found in Anwar's urine. The lawyer made the disclosure before a stunned court on the 51st day of Anwar's trial. The judge then ordered Anwar taken to...

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - At least 40,000 supporters of Malaysia's opposition held a rally near Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to protest alleged vote fraud, with its leader Anwar Ibrahim vowing to the crowds he would expose the cheating he says cost them an election win. Anwar called the rally to press his case for what he says is evidence of widespread fraud in Sunday's election that handed victory, with a weakened parliamentary majority, to the long-ruling...

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's ousted deputy prime minister, was found guilty Wednesday on four counts of corruption in a trial that has set off the greatest political unrest this country has seen in recent years. A judge sentenced Malaysia's most prominent pro-reform leader to 6 years in prison on each of the four charges. The sentences will run concurrently and begin immediately. Although the guilty verdict was widely expected, the length of the sentence was not. As the verdict was...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday congratulated Malaysia's prime minister on his coalition's election victory but urged the government to address concerns about election irregularities. "We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "We look forward to the...

Malaysia complained to the U.S. ambassador on Monday that Vice President Al Gore's praise for the reform movement of jailed dissident Anwar Ibrahim was an "incitement of lawlessness." In a speech last week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Gore lauded the "brave people of Malaysia" who have demanded democracy as part of the movement started by Anwar, the former deputy prime minister. The comments enraged the Malaysian government. On Sunday, Premier Mahathir...

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim vowed on Tuesday to lead a "fierce movement" to reform the country's electoral system and challenge the results of an election he lost, starting with a rally of supporters this week. Anwar has refused to accept the victory of the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in Sunday's election, saying that the result was tainted by widespread fraud, including the use of foreign immigrants to vote for the governing...

The United States and Japan announced proposals Monday to pump an additional $10 billion into troubled Asian economies to help lift the region out of its worst economic crisis in decades. Details of the proposed measures were announced in the Malaysian capital by Vice President Al Gore, who was attending an economic summit in President Clinton's place. Gore's speech also made a direct reference to the troubles that have erupted in Malaysia since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired and jailed...

By Stuart Grudgings KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Reuters) - Malaysians vote on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world's longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies. Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front,...

Malaysian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at more than 10,000 supporters of jailed opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim at the National Mosque on Sunday. Protesters hurled stones at police and yelled, "Dogs of the government!" and "You are pigs!" Both are harsh insults in mostly Muslim Malaysia, where pigs and dogs are considered unclean. Police were seen beating demonstrators with batons. It was not immediately known whether there were injuries....

By Siva Sithraputhran KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Reuters) - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday that tens of thousands of "dubious" voters may have been flown in to key states to boost the government's chances in this weekend's election, an accusation denied by the ruling coalition. Electoral fraud is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where a civil society movement has sprung up to demand electoral reforms in increasingly large street...

An appeals court refused Saturday to overturn Anwar Ibrahim's corruption conviction and 6-year sentence, prompting the ousted deputy prime minister to accuse judges of cowardice and political persecution. "We have reached a unanimous decision," announced the president of the Court of Appeals, Lamin Yunus, who was flanked by two other judges. In a surprise move, Lamin refused to read aloud excerpts of the court's 59-page ruling, saying Anwar's attorneys and journalists could...

Amnesty International said Wednesday a decision to amend four corruption charges against Malaysia's ousted finance minister, Anwar Ibrahim, might compromise his right to a fair trial. "We need to study the text," said the human rights group's Asia director, Rory Mungoven. "But, at first reading, they seem to dilute the charges in such a way that they would be easier to prove." Malaysian prosecutors insist the amendments, coming in the 10th week of Anwar's trial, involve changes merely in...